After defeating the Mitachurl, Noelle absorbed a surge of ley line energy.
Level: Lv10.
She had jumped four levels at once.
However, after fighting through the night and exhausting herself in such a brutal battle, the maid knight finally collapsed.
A wave of fatigue washed over her the moment the fight ended.
She fell onto the ground.
Jiang Chen quickly picked her up in his arms.
"Let's rest for today."
He carried her into the abandoned camp and placed her on a wooden platform.
Barbara rushed over to treat Noelle's overexerted body.
But she herself looked uncomfortable.
She tugged shyly at her soaked stockings.
"Big Brother Jiang Chen… my clothes are completely wet."
She was kneeling on the wooden platform, nervously pulling at her white stockings.
When she released them—
Slap.
They snapped back against her calf with a dull sound.
They were still soaked.
"Should you change them?"
Jiang Chen finally realized the problem.
Barbara wasn't like Lumine, who had the endurance of a traveler.
And she was a mage.
If she caught a cold, that would be trouble.
"…Mm."
Barbara nodded shyly.
So Jiang Chen quietly set up another tent for them.
Nearby, Diluc seemed to realize what was happening.
"...Tch."
He turned around immediately and walked away.
Only after leaving the valley did he finally breathe out.
"That guy Jiang Chen…"
"How does he know how to do everything?"
He muttered.
"If he had asked me to help…"
That would expose the fact that he didn't know how to set up a tent.
"After all, these are tasks usually done by servants."
"If I'm traveling alone, I don't even need a tent anyway."
He continued making excuses to himself.
Eventually he looked for a large tree with thick branches.
Perfect for catching some sleep.
He wasn't worried about security.
He had already scouted the area yesterday.
There were no other monster camps nearby.
Back in the valley—
Paimon flew back angrily from the water pool.
She looked like a child running to complain to a parent.
"Jiang Chen! That Mist Flower!"
"I went near it and it sprayed ice at me!"
She held an arrowhead in her hand—one of the drops from the hilichurl archers.
She had tried to cut the flower.
But somehow even a flower bullied her.
Paimon was furious.
Jiang Chen laughed.
"Wait until Diluc comes back."
"One Searing Onslaught slash and the flower will drop."
He said.
She sighed.
Then suddenly pulled out a bright red berry.
"What about this? Do you know what it is?"
Jiang Chen recognized it instantly.
"That's Valberry, a specialty of Stormbearer Mountains."
"Merchants haven't dared come here recently."
"Mondstadt is short on them."
"Lisa has been craving these for a while."
He asked curiously.
"Where did you find it?"
"In the camp."
"I think the hilichurls gathered them."
Paimon quickly stuffed them away before anyone could ask for them.
Then she yawned.
The excitement of collecting loot faded quickly.
Her eyelids drooped.
She glanced longingly at the Mist Flower in the pool—
Then flew into the tent to sleep.
Soon Lumine jumped down from the hillside.
"Did you set the warning traps?"
Jiang Chen asked.
Even though there were no nearby monster camps, they didn't want to make the same mistake as the hilichurls.
The hillside above the valley was the best observation point.
So placing traps there ensured early warning.
"All done."
Lumine replied.
She sat down beside Jiang Chen.
Her long legs folded neatly together.
Even sitting quietly next to him made her feel secretly happy.
She buried her face in her knees to hide the expression.
The team rested in the valley for a full day.
After that they continued deeper into Stormbearer Mountains.
Over the next few days:
Slimes and Whopperflowers were handled by Barbara with elemental attacks while Noelle defended.
Hilichurls were defeated by Lumine, Barbara, and Noelle together.
As their levels increased, the danger of the mountains gradually decreased.
Unless they encountered enemies like the huge group from the first valley—
Jiang Chen and Diluc didn't even need to fight anymore.
After several days, both Barbara and Noelle noticed something strange.
Their journey clearly had a specific destination.
They weren't just training.
Barbara finally asked:
"Big Brother Jiang Chen… do we actually have a goal?"
"How much farther?"
She had never been away from Mondstadt this long.
Her reliance on Jiang Chen had grown noticeably.
"We're almost there."
Jiang Chen replied.
Ahead, Diluc pushed aside a thick cluster of bushes with his claymore.
The view suddenly opened.
And he froze.
In the center of a small plain deep within the mountains stood a massive circular ruin.
It looked exactly like the ruin he had discovered half a year ago at Cape Oath.
The only difference—
The elemental energy.
The ruin at Cape Oath was Electro.
This one was unmistakably Anemo.
At the center of the ruin rested a massive elemental creature.
A floating cube protected by heavy stone shells.
Only those who had awakened such beings knew their terrifying power.
Anemo Hypostasis
Diluc felt his palms sweating again.
He turned back toward Jiang Chen.
"You're sure about this?"
Jiang Chen answered calmly.
"Relax."
"I've fought it before."
"I know how it attacks."
"For Accessing Advanced chapters please visit patreon.com/Killua_001"